Number 4: Luke Boothroyd What a season from the Huddersfield native, after being signed from the Hull Stingrays, Boothroyd would begin the season under the vastly experienced wing of Dwight Parrish. After Parrish’s departure around Christmas time Luke had to step up. With no sign of a replacement player Luke’s ice time grew rapidly, and boy, did he rise to it! Always a consistently good performer on the ice, he knew where to put his body, when and how to use his stick on the ice. Despite his size he could level any player in the EIHL, Brad Voth anyone?
His improvement becoming so marked, that he spent a good deal of the season on the top D pairing with Kenton Smith, and never looked out of place. Luke is a player who deservedly one an award at the end of season supporters do. Sadly he never won a man-of-the-match award during the season despite many great performances.
Re-sign? In a way I would welcome Luke’s signature as much as David-Alexandre Beauregard’s! Such is the high esteem I and many other Phoenix fans hold for Luke!
Season stats: GP: 69, Goals: 0, Assists: 8, Points: 8, Pim: 56.
Number 5: Kenton Smith (Captain) ‘Kenton is our captain, Kenton is our captain, da daa da da!’ Kenton Smith came in and was our best D man all season. A great leader on and off the ice, a consummate professional. Took over development duties for Luke and Carl after Dewy’s departure and nurtured both players. Kenton had a wicked shot and a willingness to get forward and rush the net. Not the biggest of guys but a guy who could mix it up when he wanted. A fully deserving player of the captaincy!
Fast, skillful and dependable, all the qualities you want in your captain and Kenton had them in spades. He led the blue line by example all season and chipped in with his own fair share of points. The leading D man, and 6th highest point scorer on the Phoenix roster.
Re-sign? Most defiantly yes! Kenton could turn out to be another franchise player for the Phoenix. Certainly one of our best ever Captains!
Season stats: GP: 67, Goals: 9, Assists: 38, Points: 47, Pim: 74.
Number 7: Alex Dunn A player in a similar vein to Kenton Smith, with the only possible difference being Alex’ willingness to mix it up! As shown by his impressive PIM figure, beating Mr Clouthier indeed! Alex has worked hard all season and has finished up number 3 in terms of D men scoring. Able to read the play well and execute a mean slap shot. Ive been a big fan of Alex’ all season and he is a player who has improved all year.
Forming a great partnership with Josh or Kenton, Alex has adapted well to the small ice here in Altrincham. More than willing to join in the rush, Alex has scored a respectable 13 goals this season. Matching his previous seasons tally from Odessa.
Re-Sign? A cracking season from the Michigan native, I would have him back next season!
Season Stats: GP: 68, Goals: 13, Assists: 30, Points: 43, Pim: 199
Number 13: Josh Garbutt The seasons utility player, Josh played a fair few games up front for the Phoenix when the squad was hit by injuries. For this reason alone he can be called Mr Reliable! A consistent performer in the Phoenix ranks, while not the flashiest Josh got the job done each night. Some interesting hair/facial displays throughout the season have made Josh a firm fan favourite.
A 45 point season ranks as a career best for Josh, the stint on the forward lines obviously contributed to his increased point taking. Plus he must have had a good season for a chant to be made up for him! Cue the choir boys:
‘Josh Garbutt plays for Phoenix, he wrestles Buffalo, were gonna sing a song for him and this is how it goes……’
Re-Sign? Again another yes please, with a fully fit team would allow Josh to concentrate on what he does best. Defence!
Season Stats: GP: 66, Goals: 8, Assists: 37, Points: 45, Pim: 67
Number 81: Carl Graham Carl had a season much like Adam Summerfield, biding most of his time on the bench and awaiting the call from Tony to join in the fray. As such his ice time was limited, but whenever he did step out onto the ice the young Brit defence men never looked out of place. A little in-experienced he will have learnt a lot this season. No doubt aided by Dwight Parrish, until his departure, Graham will have learned so much behind Tony/Kenton and the rest of the team.
Possibly the best indicator of his progress has been his first points registered at EIHL level, with his first goal coming against the leagues best nettie Jodie Lehman. Carl never let the side down when he stepped out onto the ice, and im sure another season will see him break out and become an established Brit! Plus a loyal fan club is now forming, with frequent ‘We Love you Carl’ shouts being heard from the stands!
Re-Sign? With the possibility of British players becoming rarer at EIHL level, its important to hold onto the good ones! Yes please!
Season Stats: GP: 67, Goals: 1, Assists: 2, Points: 3, Pim: 18
Also Iced:
Number 17: Dwight Parrish The veteran defense man was brought in to give the young Phoenix organisation some experience. While being one of the best defense man to grace the British game, Parrish also brought vast experience of hockey in Manchester too! Having iced two seasons with the Manchester Storm and the Phoenix’ first season of existence, Parrish came to the Phoenix in 0809 after having played the previous 9 seasons in the UK.
Dwight, while not being the most mobile of defense men, brought a fine hockey mind to the blue line. His experience could be seen rubbing off on the likes of Luke Boothroyd and Carl Graham. His stick handling and positioning on the ice were second to none! His season was cut short when he left the Phoenix just before Christmas to start his post hockey career. Now im not going to comment further on this as I have already done that here: Dwight Takes Flight. (link to post)
Re-sign? If he were still playing, yes please!
Season Stats: GP: 33, Goals: 3, Assists: 10, Points: 13, Pim: n/a
...and so tomorrow will bring the attack!
Showing posts with label Alex Dunn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alex Dunn. Show all posts
Wednesday, 15 April 2009
Monday, 2 February 2009
Phoenix v Nottingham 01st February Game Review
So last night saw the visit of the Panthers, this was also the reverse of Saturday nights game in the NIC. The final score in Nottingham was 3-2 Panthers, not bad for the Phoenix, at least it was a close game. This time, however, on home ice we hoped for a Phoenix win. The Phoenix were at full strength and the Panthers, with a couple of injuries, still had a larger bench than the Phoenix. Some wage cap bending going on? (Possibly?)
Anyway on to the game:
First Period: Nottingham came out, as they always do, hard and fast. Most of the period was spent in the Phoenix zone, but the Phoenix were holding on. Coupled with some superb goaltending from Murphy the period ended 0-0. Even though the Panthers dominated the period there were good chances at either end of the Ice.
Second Period: Well it all kicked off in the second! Both teams began to get into penalty trouble with lots of niggles, slashes, hook’s going on. Around the 37/38min mark the Panthers had 3 players in the box and the Phoenix had just the one. There was some confusion (at east the Panthers thought so) as to who should have come back on the ice when! Alex Dunn’s penalty came to an end, he stepped out onto the ice all alone on the blue line, Clouthier found him and Dunn let rip a shot high over Robinson’s shoulder. This send the Dome mental and the noise really cranked up a notch. Then 21seconds later the Dome exploded, when, at 39min and 30sec Lucas Burnett rammed the puck home. Que delirium in the stands, what followed was the most disgraceful display from the Panther’s players I have seen all season. The proverbial toys were well and truly thrown out the pram. Just as the main arguments began to dispel and the Phoenix players lined up for the faceoff, the Panthers were refusing to take to the centre circle. Quite why a delay of game penalty was not assessed on the Panthers ill never know! To add to all this, Mr Robinson in the Panthers goal, who had seconds earlier tried to wrap his stick around the post, deliberately pushed the net off its moorings to delay the game further. Im sorry the Panthers may be a bigger team, but there display in the second period was shoddy and disgraceful! Anyway the Phoenix went into the break 2-0 up!
Third Period: All the Phoenix had to do was keep plugging away and stay out the penalty box. Im not sure what happened to the Phoenix in the break, as a totally different team player the third period. I can’t decide if we were awful, or the Panthers just stepped up a gear. In a woeful display the Phoenix conceded 3 unanswered goals and an empty netter. The goals came as follows:
Galbraith – 51min 58sec.
Bergin – 56min 11sec.
Bergin – 56min 28sec. (own goal)
Empty net at 59min 59sec, Bergin the scorer?
So in one 10min spell, the Phoenix have gone from a strong lead to a horrible defeat. Needles to say this poster was gutted, we had two points in the bag, and managed to snatch defeat from victory! We did not deserve to loose, the Panthers did not deserve to win. The Panthers win, combined with their conduct in the second period made me sick! Im quite willing to hold my hands up and say the better team won, but on this occasion I cannot do that! I have never seen a team spit its dummy our and act so badly as the Panthers did in that second period! Shameful!
Verdict: Well as mentioned above, defeat snatched from the jaws of victory. Another pointless weekend, and more worryingly more evidence of the Phoenix’ inability to close out the game. 2-0 up with 20minutes to go on home ice, but we still lost! What’s also worrying is that’s now one win in seven games for the Phoenix. The only consolation of the night was Hull turning over Cardiff!
So a good two periods, but a poor period that cost us the win…..again!
Attendance: Not bad last night, id say around 1,400 in the Dome. As mentioned in the last game review, that second period, I defy anyone to say that was not the best atmosphere anywhere in the league! Just a shame about the third period!
MEN article for the game here.
Anyway on to the game:
First Period: Nottingham came out, as they always do, hard and fast. Most of the period was spent in the Phoenix zone, but the Phoenix were holding on. Coupled with some superb goaltending from Murphy the period ended 0-0. Even though the Panthers dominated the period there were good chances at either end of the Ice.
Second Period: Well it all kicked off in the second! Both teams began to get into penalty trouble with lots of niggles, slashes, hook’s going on. Around the 37/38min mark the Panthers had 3 players in the box and the Phoenix had just the one. There was some confusion (at east the Panthers thought so) as to who should have come back on the ice when! Alex Dunn’s penalty came to an end, he stepped out onto the ice all alone on the blue line, Clouthier found him and Dunn let rip a shot high over Robinson’s shoulder. This send the Dome mental and the noise really cranked up a notch. Then 21seconds later the Dome exploded, when, at 39min and 30sec Lucas Burnett rammed the puck home. Que delirium in the stands, what followed was the most disgraceful display from the Panther’s players I have seen all season. The proverbial toys were well and truly thrown out the pram. Just as the main arguments began to dispel and the Phoenix players lined up for the faceoff, the Panthers were refusing to take to the centre circle. Quite why a delay of game penalty was not assessed on the Panthers ill never know! To add to all this, Mr Robinson in the Panthers goal, who had seconds earlier tried to wrap his stick around the post, deliberately pushed the net off its moorings to delay the game further. Im sorry the Panthers may be a bigger team, but there display in the second period was shoddy and disgraceful! Anyway the Phoenix went into the break 2-0 up!
Third Period: All the Phoenix had to do was keep plugging away and stay out the penalty box. Im not sure what happened to the Phoenix in the break, as a totally different team player the third period. I can’t decide if we were awful, or the Panthers just stepped up a gear. In a woeful display the Phoenix conceded 3 unanswered goals and an empty netter. The goals came as follows:
Galbraith – 51min 58sec.
Bergin – 56min 11sec.
Bergin – 56min 28sec. (own goal)
Empty net at 59min 59sec, Bergin the scorer?
So in one 10min spell, the Phoenix have gone from a strong lead to a horrible defeat. Needles to say this poster was gutted, we had two points in the bag, and managed to snatch defeat from victory! We did not deserve to loose, the Panthers did not deserve to win. The Panthers win, combined with their conduct in the second period made me sick! Im quite willing to hold my hands up and say the better team won, but on this occasion I cannot do that! I have never seen a team spit its dummy our and act so badly as the Panthers did in that second period! Shameful!
Verdict: Well as mentioned above, defeat snatched from the jaws of victory. Another pointless weekend, and more worryingly more evidence of the Phoenix’ inability to close out the game. 2-0 up with 20minutes to go on home ice, but we still lost! What’s also worrying is that’s now one win in seven games for the Phoenix. The only consolation of the night was Hull turning over Cardiff!
So a good two periods, but a poor period that cost us the win…..again!
Attendance: Not bad last night, id say around 1,400 in the Dome. As mentioned in the last game review, that second period, I defy anyone to say that was not the best atmosphere anywhere in the league! Just a shame about the third period!
MEN article for the game here.
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